World Population (2023)
8.01B
Total births (2023)
17M
Total Fertility Rate (2023)
2.2bths
Projected Population (2050)
9.78B
Completion, primary education, female (2023)
89.1%
Completion, lower secondary, female (2023)
78.7%
Completion, upper secondary, female (2023)
61.0%
Adult literacy, 15+ years, female (2022)
83.8%
The scatterplot data from 1970 to 2015 illustrates a significant negative correlation between the fertility rate of the world’s countries and the average years of female education. This trend, characterized by an increasingly steep slope, suggests that as women’s education improves, fertility rates decrease.
In 1970, the global landscape was marked by high fertility rates, notably in Africa with an average of 6.74 children per woman. Countries like Rwanda exhibited extremely high rates (8.23), alongside very low educational attainment for women (1.77 years). Conversely, regions like Europe demonstrated lower fertility rates (2.44) and higher educational levels (average 6.53 years), indicating a more developed status.
By 2015, global fertility rates had decreased significantly, particularly in Africa, where the average dropped to 4.37. The average years of female education increased markedly across all continents, with Africa’s average rising from 2.16 in 1970 to 6.8 in 2015. This uptick in education is likely a contributing factor to the declining fertility trends observed.
America and Europe saw their fertility rates drop to 2.18 and 1.59 respectively by 2015. Increased educational attainment in these regions also correlated with lower fertility rates. For instance, in the US, women had an impressive 15 years of education on average, reflecting a strong inverse relationship.
Overall, the data reveals that enhancing female educational opportunities is closely linked to reduced fertility rates, emphasizing the critical role of education in shaping demographic trends across continents. The correlation underscores the importance of investing in women’s education as a strategy for sustainable development.
The 2015 GAPMINDER data used in this dashboard are shown below and can be downloaded as a CSV file. For the full datasets and other data sources, please refer to the ABOUT page and the README file
| country | country_code | continent | year | fert_rates | mean_schyrs | population | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Loading ITables v2.2.4 from the internet... (need help?) |
This data comes from the Gapminder’s data repository, which is sourced from the Gapminder Foundation.
The Gapminder Foundation is a non-profit venture that promotes sustainable global development and achievement of the United Nations Millennium Development Goals by increasing use and understanding of statistics and other information about social, economic, and environmental development.
Understanding “Fertility Rate”: A Key Demographic Term